Current events in the words of the students of Vinod Gupta School of Management, IIT Kharagpur

VGSoM Travel & Tourism

The following article is based on my own interpretation of the said events. Any material borrowed from published and unpublished sources has been appropriately referenced. I will bear the sole responsibility for anything that is found to have been copied or misappropriated or misrepresented in the following post.

Royal Enfield, a bike manufacturing company was formerly known as Enfield cycle Company was produced its first bike in 1901 . Originated from England the Enfield was known for making artillery for the army. Probably the reason why the motto of the company is “Made like a Gun”. The company has met a lot of ups and downs from early 20th century till 1970 when it was closed and dissolved.

Royal Enfield has its presence in India since 1949. When Indian government as looking for vehicles for police patrolling, they found this motor cycle the suitable one. After original company was dissolved in 1949, the Madras motors bought the company and continued production under the name Bullet.

Royal Enfield Bullet model was started in mid of the 1960’s and continued production till the end of the 20th century. It is recorded as the longest selling motorcycle in the world. The word bullet was so associated with the Indian mindset that the company was named Bullet after the Madras motor takeover. It changed its name to Royal Enfield in 1999.

With its rustic looks, it was the dream motorcycle of the Indian men. So much so that some people joined army/police to own a Bullet (as the bikes were not soled to common people). From 1990’s Bullet was available for the general public and it is still a craze among people. The company majority stakeholder Eicher motors share price has been skyrocketing since the 20th century. The major part played in this is believed to be Royal Enfield. The waiting period for many models are still vary from 2 months to whopping 8 months.

Being one of the experienced persons of waiting I would say its worth the wait, and yeah! it is “Made like a Gun”.

The following article is based on my own interpretation of the said events. Any material borrowed from published and unpublished sources has been appropriately referenced. I will bear the sole responsibility for anything that is found to have been copied or misappropriated or misrepresented in the following post.

It wouldn’t beat a Japanese Shinkansen train in a race, but India on Tuesday completed the maiden voyage of its fastest train, taking the country’s rail network one stop closer to realizing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream of modernizing the country’s aging rail network.

On 5th April, the Gatiman Express (“Gati” is a Hindi word for “speed”) took its first 100-minute journey between Delhi and Agra, home to the famous Taj Mahal. It will shuttle between the two cities at a speed of up to 160 kilometers, or 99 miles, per hour. India is calling it a “semi high-speed train.” Japan’s Shinkansen bullet trains go twice as fast–up to 320 kilometers, or 199 miles, per hour.

“The launch of this train heralds a new era of high speed rail travel in India,” the federal ministry of railways said in a statement a day ahead of the train’s flagging off.

The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corp., a government body that handles catering, tourism and ticketing operations of the railways, is ensuring that the food and other services on the train are “comparable to an in-flight experience.”

Passengers will be able to choose between Indian, continental and a special health meal from chicken sausages, date walnut cakes, Swiss rolls to fruit platters for calorie-conscious passengers.”

Until now, the Indian Railways food hasn’t had the best reputation. Meals typically consist of standard Indian fare–rotis, rice, lentil curry and vegetables.
The train’s 10 Wi-Fi enabled coaches manufactured in the northern Indian state of Punjab, also come equipped with “bio-toilets,” designed to convert human waste into a liquid, which is disinfected before it is discharged onto railway tracks.

Most Indian trains have open-discharge toilets, infamous for their unbearable stench and the litter they drop on railway tracks. A government-panel report in 2012 said that human waste on tracks was corroding them. In the recent past, railway ministers have vowed year-after-year to alleviate the risks of direct discharge by providing eco-friendly toilets in all trains, existing and new.

The so-called semi-high-speed train will run twice daily, except on Fridays, between Delhi and Agra–leaving in the morning from the Indian capital and returning the same evening. A ticket for a regular coach will cost 750 rupees ($11.35) and for double that price, one can travel in one of the two “executive” coaches. A standard ticket covering the same distance can cost between 300 and 500 rupees ($4.54 and $7.57).

Building a high-speed railway corridor is a pet project of Mr. Modi. In December, his cabinet approved a bid from Japan to build India’s first high-speed rail network. Construction is expected to begin in 2017 and be completed by 2023. It would cost about 980 billion rupees ($14.8 billion) and be financed by a low-interest loan from Japan.

The Gatiman Express will run on an existing railway line, modified slightly to meet its speed requirements.

The following article is based on my own interpretation of the said events. Any material borrowed from published and unpublished sources has been appropriately referenced. I will bear the sole responsibility for anything that is found to have been copied or misappropriated or misrepresented in the following post.

The reported slugfest between newer airlines and incumbents over proposed reforms and opening up is unfortunate. Sure, there can be no civil aviation without healthy airlines, but the primary goal of civil aviation policy must be to service the needs of Indian fliers as the Indian economy develops, not to protect airlines. Incumbents have every right to demand a level playing field with newcomers but cannot block policy innovation to serve the nation’s need better.

New airlines would like to see the back of the existing 5/20 rule, which requires Indian carriers to have domestic operations for five years and 20 aircraft before flying overseas. Incumbents worry that removing the 5/20 rule without, in tandem, reforming the Route Dispersal Guidelines (RDG), would give newcomers an unfair advantage. The worry is not baseless.

RDG require airlines to deploy on Category II routes, comprising the northeast, Jammu & Kashmir and the island territories, 10 per cent of their carrying capacity on routes connecting metros (Category I) and 50 per cent of Category I capacity on category III routes, comprising all other routes. The new draft policy seeks to address this concern, by making accumulation of a minimum number of domestic flying credits mandatory before flying abroad. Could added weightage for Category III connectivity be built into the credits required to fly abroad?

Older carriers like Jet, IndiGo, SpiceJet and GoAir understandably want greater scope for route rationalisation. The Centre needs to be much more forthcoming and speedily assign unused bilateral air traffic rights so that Indian carriers can offer more flights overseas. It makes no sense to keep the bilaterals unused indefinitely even as there are committed Indian players waiting in the wings.

However, incumbents would merely be cutting off the nose to spite the face if they continue to demand extensive domestic play for the newer carriers. It would surely bring down margins for the more domestic-focused older carriers, and may, particularly in the short-to-medium run, actually make several routes quite unviable.